The Story of Katrine Kressel
by LDSJediMaster
Summary: The year is 1977 and the Mauraders are starting there final year at Hogwarts. This story is not about them however. It is about Katrine Kressel, a young woman who just escaped from the Communist GDR and is about to start her first year at Hogwarts.


I'm primarily posting this to share with some friends of mine, but feel free to Read and Review if the concept sound even remotely interesting to you. Harry Potter is of course owned by J.K. Rowling. I only own the character of Katrine Kressel and am just trying to have a good time with the rich setting which Jo has provided us with.

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16 year old Katrine Kressel stood leaning against her luggage trolley in King's Cross Station, sadly watching other travelers go about there business. It was almost 10:30 in the morning, nearly two hours since she had arrived at the station with her mother, and she was slowly starting to wonder if they would ever find their way to the platform that would take her to her new school.

"Still no luck," Her mother said sadly, returning from her trip to the ticket counter trying to find this illusive Platform 9 and 3/4. "It would have been nice if that Herr Dumbledore had told us to find this platform."

"I know mother." The elder and younger Kressel women talked to each other in German, their native language. "Maybe he just forgot to tell us." _Or maybe this is somesort of test to make sure I'm good enough to go to this school. _This last thought came from out of nowhere and she knew it was probably ridiculous, but it was hard not to feel somewhat pessemistic, especially with all they had been through recently.

Katrine continued to scan the crowds, spotting someone pushing a trolley with a trunk very similar to her own. Several someones actually. Three to be exact. Katrine stood up straighter, watching them intently. It wasn't the first time she had seen people with such trunks this morning, she'd seen many actually, but she always lost sight of them in the crowds, never seeing where they went. Expecting much the same thing to happen this time as well, Katrine continued to watch the three, who she assumed to be siblings. Almost miracously the crowd stayed open around them, and she watched them steadily advance towards the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. The first one reached it, but instead of bouncing off the wall like she would have expected, the cart disappeared through it, followed by the boy pushing it. Katrine watched wide eyed as the other two pushing trolleys, two girls who looked like they might be twins, also disappeared through the wall. It was then that something clicked in Katrine's brain.

"I think I figured it out Mother." Katrine whispered excitedly to her mother.

"What?" Her mother responded, suprised by her daughter's sudden excitement.

"I don't know how to explain it. Just follow me." Grabbing a hold of her trolley, Katrine started to push it towards the barrier, her heartbeat and her pace increasing the nearer she got. She could hear her mother call after her, but she didn't listen. This was the only idea she had about where the platform might be, and they were quickly running out of time. Katrine would quickly know if the platform was somehow magically hidden inside of the barrier as she now believed. That or she would be feeling very foolish. With only a few feet left, she closed her eyes and broke into a run, fearing the worst.

Astonishingly she met no resistance. Stopping and opening her eyes she found herself on a bustling platform full of parents and students, a bright red steam locomotive with the words Hogwarts Express painted cheerfully on it's side. Katrine's face immediately broke out into one of her rare but radiant smiles.

"Oh Katrine, I hate it when you do things like that," Her breathless mother said as she came to stand next to Katrine.

"But it worked mother! I was right! It worked!" Between their talking in German and Katrine's extatic reaction to something that was probably very routine for the other people on the platform they were getting a lot of weird looks, but Katrine couldn't bring herself to care. For the first time in years she was filled almost to the overflowing with joy. And for the first time in her life she was actually excited to go to school.

A loud whistle issued from the train, letting everyone on the platform no it was about ready to leave. The activity suddenly picked up as parents and students sayed last minute goodbyes before the students rushed to get on the train. Katrine threw her arms around her mother in a big hug. "I've got to go now mother. I love you. I promise to write. With that she took off towards the train, choosing one of the cars at random and managing to haul her trunk onboard before the train started to move. There was no possible way she could explain how she felt. She was off to her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


End file.
